Churches and Monasteries

Gudaleti monastery complex is located in the village of Gudaleti on an elevated spot, on the edge of a high gorge on the river Gudaleura. The church is located about 1 hour and 20 minutes drive from Tbilisi. The complex includes the Church of the Assumption and a tower fortress. We discovered this church by chance while driving through the village of Gudaleti to visit a friend who has bought a house in the same village. Seems the church is under renovation and is being completely rebuilt (2022…

The ancient church called ‘’Gorijvari’’ stands between the Trialeti Mountains and the river bank of Mtkvari close to the Gori town in Georgia. The church was named after Saint Georges, which was originally built in the 12th century.  It was burned down by the Turks, rebuilt, and destroyed again by an earthquake in 1920. The current church was built in the 1980s. It was at the end of January 2022, we were traveling around Gori town and were looking for some interesting sightseeing objects  -…

Seema Malaka is a Buddhist temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The temple is mainly used for meditation and rest, rather than for worship. Situated in Beira Lake, the temple was originally constructed in the late 19th century. Seema Malaka is a part of the Gangaramaya Temple and is situated a few hundred meters to its east. I had a chance to visit this temple at the start of January 2022, during our Sri Lanka trip. We found this awesome place thanks to the local tuk-tuk driver, who agreed to show us…

Gangaramaya Temple is one of the most important temples in Colombo, Sri Lanka, being a mix of modern architecture and cultural essence. Located on the Beira Lake, it was completed in the late 19th century. We were for the second day in Colombo, at our Hilton Colombo residences when I decided to google for top sightseeing objects in Colombo and Gangaramaya Temple popped up.  It was a matter of catching a tuk-tuk and for 100 Sri Lankan Rupees, we were taken to this temple. At the temple, we…

Shavnabada Monastery is a medieval Georgian Orthodox monastic complex that is located upon Shavnabada Mountain, approximately 30 km away from Tbilisi, Georgia. I have noticed this monastery atop of the hill in the past, mostly when driving to the Birtvisi canyon, but this time we were visiting Tbilisi Hills golf club from which the monastery complex was nicely seen, and it was agreed to actually visit it.  So we did and even had a nice picnic here (atop the roof of a dwelling house) You can…

Poka St.Nino Nunnery - is located at the shore of Paravani lake, Ninotsminda Municipality, South Georgia. The Little Wooden church is located bit outside the Poka village, on the left side on Tbilisi - Kojori - Tsalka - Ninotsminda road. That' s how we actually found this place. We were heading from Ninotsminda and wanted to make a stop at the famous Phoka nunnery, but at first found this lovely woodend church near the Paravani lake. Just later we learned that the nunnery is actually located…

Phoka – a village in Georgia, In the municipality of Ninotsminda, Samtskhe-Javakheti region, on the shores of Lake Paravani, with an altitude of 2080 meters above sea level. Distance to Ninotsminda – 28 Km, to Tbilisi – 128 Km. There are a public school and St. Nino operational monasteries and nunneries in the village. There are a parish school and a medical inspection room as well as a studio of  cloisonne enamel for manufacturing icons and holy vessels at the nunnery.  From 1999 by the…

Zedazeni Monastery is a Georgian Orthodox monastery, located on the Zedazeni mountain the hills of Saguramo, northeast to Mtskheta, and to the east side of the Aragvi River. There is a pretty steep but good-quality road heading to the monastery complex from the Saguramo village. This could actually be the very awesome route for hiking - Saguramo - Zedazeni monastery. Zedazeni monastery We first visited Zedazeni monastery in early April 2021, despite we have been quite a few times at the…

Here is short drone footage from Uplistsikhe cave town in Georgia.️ Taken with DJI Mavic AIr 2, April 9, 2021, post-processed Adobe Premiere Pro. Should add more hyperlapses in the future videos. Music by Scott Holmes: Epic Cinematic Thumbs up

Aparani Church of Saint George, Martkopi is located on Vaziani-Martkopi-Norio road, some 30 km from Tbilisi. The surviving foundation in front of it suggests that in ancient times a larger church stood here. The church was built by Dito Kakhurashvili in 2000, and in 2001 a 12-meter cross (authored by Zurab Matiashvili) was erected near it, which was blessed by Father Zaza (Bezhashvili) on the feast of Aparna. The Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated in the 3rd week of Easter Our must-go…